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Summer camp pricing

01-06-2014, 01:50 PM

My son is bridging over to Boy Scouts in February, and he is looking at going to camp with the troop. I had a bit of sticker shock. I'm used to the $100 Cub Scout Day Camp cost. The camp his troop is going to is $700 for the week. Is that typical for Boy Scout camps?

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As I look into this further, it appears the camp they are going to is not a Boy Scout property. It is a private camp that offers Scouting programs. That's probably part of the reason the cost is so high. It's a camp on Catalina Island off the coast of California. The troop alternates between this camp and another camp in the Sierra mountains each year. The other camp is at a Boy Scout property, so hopefully that one will be cheaper. It would be nice if they offered both on the year that they do the expensive camp, so at least a boy who wants to attend camp can go without breaking the bank.

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Fred, I can see myself calling the Scoutmaster of the CO troop that my son just decided not to join.

Me: "Hey, I know he didn't want to join your troop, but is it OK if my son comes with you guys to summer camp because the troop we are joining is sending them off to rich kid camp and we can't afford to go?"

SM: "Your son should have thought of that when he decided not to join our troop. You made your bed, now lie in it."

I haven't even told the CO SM yet that none of my son's den are joining his troop because I've been too nervous to break the news to him. But I think one boy in our den is joining a troop from another town, so maybe we could go with them because there shouldn't be any hard feelings there. I will have to inquire about that possibility.

DK, l'll try to put this as politely as I can: That's just "girl thinking". Any SM worth the title will make it work for your boy. If a fella ever talked to you like that, I'd tell his mamma to wash his mouth out with soap until he can say 'friendly, courteous, kind' while gargling bubbles.

Explain to your son what you are thinking of doing, ask him if it'd be okay to talk to the another troop and plan to summer with them. (This may mean going to a few meetings to meet the boys he'd be camping with).

Don't worry about that. As long as the scout is mostly self-sufficient, most scoutmasters are glad to have one or two attend with them. As long as the match up works. In another words, a scout from a relaxed troop probably would not do well in a strongly regimented troop, but the reverse would probably be fine.

In our city, I've seen it happen regularly. Our troop has done it several times and other troops have done it several times. It's no big deal.

Well looking at Camps on Catalina Island I would say $700 for camp ain't bad...I found prices starting at $1500 to $4000 so With Out knowing what camp I can't say if it is a good Price truly or Not. Sadly Private Camps are one of the reason why Many Councils are closing Camps..Financial concerns out way the benefits.

The cost varies by location and program, but that is very expensive if what's offered is a local traditional week long summer camp. $150 - $250 is typical of a week long local council ran traditional camp program. If you're not including travel costs, that fee is more in line with Philmont or Northern Tier High Adventure Base pricing.

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Location, location, location; Catalina is an anomaly due to this. But anywhere in California you are going to most likely see between $300 and $400 due to state laws related to camp staff pay and other state level rules regarding camps. One of the reasons we have stuck to council the past few years is that any camperships available are only good within council; and few councils offer them to out of council units. For us, our camp is just about the closest too, which is a bigger factor than it was once. Of course, now we have the drought to deal with; last year our reservoir lake dried up before July, so no boating. Still have the pool, but the weather outlook does not bode well for boating. Lots of other good program though.

For what you still get at most BSA camps, the price is not that high. But smaller troops often are penalized for leadership costs due to minimum camper counts and two deep. We no longer get any free unless we have at least 10 scout campers; and since that is how many we have in the troop, not likely to happen. Adult price is lower, but I feel it should do no more than cover food costs, which would save about 30-40%. Of course, troops from less financially stable areas also struggle to cover summer camp especially, and even local weekend camping to some extent. There are few free camping areas anymore; and many closer in public areas are not the best place to camp due to lack of control of who is nearby, and their actions. Compare BSA camps to other group camps though, and they generally are a deal, even on Catalina.

We just keep working on finding the least expensive spots that meet a minimum level. Packing in helps with this, but right now we struggle due to leadership shortages of adults that can still backpack. Working on that now with some hope of finally getting some help.

Just keep working the program, and "do your best".

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Just check out the Camp and the Program...
My council is promoting Summer Camp using a Video with no photos from Our Camp..except maybe the Climbing Tower. Definitely not The River Canoeing , Not The Archery Range, Not the Rifle Range, Not the Lake Barge.We have a Pool and that is it. No C.O.P.E, No Lake, No Permanent Climbing Towers, No Zip Lines,
We hopefully will have the New Shotgun Range finished by Summer Camp.
Our Aquatics program portion of Camp was Canceled last year due to low Lake Levels Unless we get Drastic Rain Levels we won't have it again this year..Our Lakes are at almost 28% Levels right now. We did Swimming and Lifesaving Only at the pool, We Bused the Scouters out to the Lake each day when we was able to in Prior Years..Bummer

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Private camps always seem pretty expensive as are High Adventure. We go to Summer Camp up in the Georgia/N. Carolina mountains and typically pay $450-$500 per scout per week all inclusive (except for some craft supplies for a few MBs). This includes rental of a bus for transport.

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Sounds high. Our local camp is about $200, The away camps we've done have been around $300. We're going to the NC mountains this year, and it's $400. $300 for the camp itself, and $100 for wicking t-shirts, gas, and meals on the road.

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Sometimes, districts or councils will put together a provisional troop made up of boys who want to go to camp but can't go with their regular troop. It might be another option for your son, to see if he can go to a regular scout camp with a provisional troop.

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I think it is a really bad idea to send a new scout with a unit he does not know and a part time scoutmaster looking after him. Seems like a recipe for a homesick lad who you will never see again after summer camp.

Looking for a couple of provisional camps for a couple of my boys who do not want to attend our traditional camp with the troop. Both require the lads to be first class and 13 years old before they will take them.

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It all depends on the quality of the provisional SM. If he's good, there shouldn't be a problem, otherwise it could be a major problem. One has no way of knowing this before the boy sets off for camp. I guess I don't like the crap-shoot chances of sending off my boys under those circumstances.

Even though we haven't bridged over yet, I took my son to the Boy Scout meeting last night so we could learn more about this expensive camp on Catalina Island. Turns out it is actually a Council-owned camp, not a private camp. The people we talked to all raved about how fun the camp was, so my son and his friend decided to go but I told my son that he had to raise $300 of the cost himself.

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In this day and age you actually expect your son to take some responsibility to pay for this???? Shame on you!

Seriously: Sounds like your mentoring is going to produce a responsible young man! Congrats! By the way, it is my experience that boys that work for a goal like this makes that goal that much more valuable to them. Hope your boy has a blast!